Initiative Aims to Fill a Glaring Gap in Advancing Health Technologies from Lab to Market in Africa

Phase I of the ANDI-EMORY partnership focuses on Project Based Training Program on business development and entrepreneurship, project and intellectual property (IP) management, technology transfer and licensing as well as identification of an African center to provide this type of training and support on a sustainable basis; while Phase II focuses on identification of one or two regional hubs in Africa modeled around the EMORY’s DRIVE initiative to support the progression of local technologies in Africa.

As part of the initiative - a project based training workshop for African scientists and entrepreneurs has been concluded in Johannesburg (27-29 July, 2016). The workshop was based on 7 promising projects from across Africa and was attended by over 20 Scientists and entrepreneurs from Six African countries (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, and South Africa) as well as Emory University and Georgia Tech students from Atlanta Georgia.

“This training is a testimony of ANDI’s work towards developing and sustaining capacity building for health innovation in Africa”, said Dr. Solomon Nwaka, Executive Director of ANDI.

Dr. Dennis Liotta, a professor at EMORY University also stated, “Emory compliments the work of ANDI and ANDI- Emory partnership helps to bring a sustainable model to advance research and innovation for neglected diseases in the African continent.”

The workshop faculty were drawn from Emory Business, Law and Science departments, EMORY Institute for Drug Development, Georgia Tech, Private Sector as well as ANDI and ANDI Centres of Excellence.

In its effort to further boost South-South Collaboration in health technology development, ANDI met with a number of Chinese partners from 7-8 July, 2016 in Shanghai, China.

These collaborations are part of ANDI’s ongoing work on brokerage of partnerships to facilitate development of essential health technologies and to create opportunities for the use of these advanced and sustainable health technologies in Africa.

(Above) ANDI Meets Representatives of China NDI, Fudan University and National Centre for Drug Screening.The Meeting Discuses ANDI’s WHO Demonstration Project as well as Other Collaborative Opportunities in Drug Formulation, Diagnostics, Drug Screening and Related Capacity Building.

(Above) ANDI Visits the New National Centre for Drug Screening and Chinese National Compound Library.

The mission of ANDI (African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation) is to promote and sustain African-led health innovation to address the continent’s health needs through the assembly of collaborative networks, and building of capacity to support public health and development. ANDI focuses on addressing Africa’s health needs by harnessing the untapped power of collaboration among African researchers as well as equitable North-South and South-South partnerships, with the vision of creating a sustainable platform for health innovation in Africa. ANDI is hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).The ANDI approach is at the heart of the Post 2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals which the world is now focusing on. It is also relevant to the AU 2063 Agenda and other strategies.